Earlier today, Microsoft launched the latest version of its Security Intelligence Report, where it stated that malicious and corrupted websites are now the biggest PC security threat to enterprise customers. Another part of the report talked about PC protection in general and the stats show a lot of computers are simply not well protected from malware and other virus threats.
In a post on the official Microsoft blog, the company posted up a new infographic that shows, among other things, that 24 percent of PCs are currently not protected with the latest versions of antivirus software products. The study shows that those particular PCs are 5.5 times more likely to get hit with a malware or virus attack.
The blog says that there are three reasons why such a large portion of PCs don't have enough antivirus protection. Some PCs simply don't have any antivirus software installed at all while others don't keep their software up to date. The third reason is that malware creators can actually disable a PC even if it has sold antivirus software. The blog states:
For instance, if a system is missing security updates or a person has fallen victim to a scam and clicked on a malicious link or attachment, malware may infiltrate the computer and turn off the antivirus software. In cases like this, people are oftentimes presented with fake warnings enticing them to provide credit card information for fake antivirus software, also known as “scareware”. People might be running fake antivirus software without knowing it. It’s easy to be fooled because scareware typically looks like the real thing. In the second half of 2012, Microsoft removed one prevalent scareware package, called Onescan, from almost 3 million systems worldwide.
The company is urging PC users to download some kind of reliable antivirus software product and keep it up to date, whether it is made by Microsoft or a third party company.
Source: Microsoft | Image via Microsoft
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